Reviews by MisterE:

More User Reviews:

Pours a near pitch black with a thin wispy head,deeply roasted malt and bitter chocolate with a light piney note.There is a real hop presence to this stout for sure when drinking at room temp,bitter unsweetened chocolate and highly roasted malt are most prevelant but a dry,piney hoppiness really comes trhu as it warms and in the after-burps.An above average stout not spectacular but I would drink again for sure.

A: opaque body, creamy sudsy off white head. head is comprised of large bubbles and has some spotty stick.

S: clean malt, roast, a bit of smoke and meat

T: first wave is carbonation, and too much of it. mouthfeel is okay but the carbonation is too prickly, and kinda spices over the beers flavor. as that wears out a soft roast comes through that dries and becomes more pronounced through the finish. a clean, water like quality helps wash the roast and the brew down, almost as if its been diluted. this makes for easy drinking but no complexity.

M: aside from the carbonation tongue attack that goes on, the mouthfeel is pretty good.

D: seems that this beer was meant to be very middle of the road and approachable by a few too many. tastes like sacrifices were made in order to get a broader appeal. that being said, i know i dont want another, not tonight anyway.

Nearly opaque black body, highlights of ruby red show through when held to the light. Initial one finger head, light tan in color, redued to nothing except a ring around the edge.

Strong toasted malt aroma with some hints of char and dark coffee. Some sweet malt aspects come in as well. Smells good, I like the charred aromas. Very simple, but pronounced.

More char and dark toasted malts again in the taste, but these disappear pretty quickly. I dont know what else to describe in this one, not overly complex. Finish is dark coffee again. A bit of peat and earthyness in the finish from the hops. Finish is quite dry.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and fairly good. A bit too much carbonation makes this one too crisp and biting on the tongue for me. Overall good drinkability though. Simple with a nice toasted flavor, just not much in it to continually bring me back.

This is a good, solid stout. Everything is pretty close to the way I like it. Jet black with coffee & chocolate in the scent & taste. I would prefer a smoother finish. This tasted a little too carbonated - a bit too "piercing" I would say. A bit more caramel flavoring would be nice too. The bitterness in this stout is on point, though. I dont know if I would buy this again, as I have my pick of so many different stouts in this area, but this is a good effort from Mendocino.

Taste: Active level of carbonation that induces a creamy and refreshing mouthfeel. Body is full and even. Initial flavour is a limey hop character that races along the palate with a slightly dry pucker and bite. It fades into a robust roasted astringency, then melds with an earthy black malt flavour. Other malt flavours include burnt, raisin, black liquorice and a touch of sweet caramel and chocolate. Finish is dry, clean for all that's going on, with some grain in the back.

Notes: Black Hawk Stout one helluva stout, and another top-notch beer from Mendocino. Quite complex and what you'd also expect from Mendocino. Most definitely give it a try.

Poured a pitch black and creamy with a thick beige head that dissapated quickly, leaving only a thin ring and slight cloud in the center. Scents of toffee, coffee, dark cherries, and brandy. Light carbination and a bit of bite in the flavor. Tastes dark and smooth. Burnt toast in the sips and aftertaste. Sherry, merlot, espresso. Good bitterness. Good mouthfeel, but heavy tasting, maybe not one that you could drink a ton of in a sitting, but still very enjoyable.

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a pint glass. The label has no freshness date or abv%.

Appearance: This beer has a dark jet black look in the glass with a milk chocolate brown colored head on top. From the pour the head builds up a two finger tall covering that gradually fades to just a thin ring of foam. At the top of the glass it leaves a light ring of lace and the rest of the lacing slides right down as I drink.

Smell: It has nice complexity but a light overall presence. Within the modest nose there are notes of dark/burnt toasted bready malt, chocolate, dark roasted coffee and some caramel. I also pick up a slight smokiness.

Taste/Palate: The flavor brings all the dark toast, bitter chocolate and coffee notes picked up from the aroma. Under that it has a very slight caramel and molasses sweetness. This all comes on a modest medium body that comes off a little light but still interesting and very drinkable. The finish is fairly dry with some light hop flavor and a short bitter fade.

Notes: This one may leave some die hard stout lovers wanting more but it is decent for the price range and may be a nice beginner stout.

Loose medium body with a moderate carbonation that lacks crispness and smoothness. Roasted malt flavour is a bit narrow and sticks with the sweetness to lay down faint chocolate and burnt flavours. Mild earthy tones from the malt and yeast come through towards the end with a small acrid like taste also. Finishes on the dry side with more earthy tones.

A decent stout, nothing special … just a well rounded stout that lacks bit of character.

Drinkability: This beer really just did not come together for me. It seems as though the flavors were too separated within the beer. The smell really threw me off and while the taste was better, I was still only thinking it was ok at best. I will be passing on this.

The beer pours a dark brown to black color with a tan head. The aroma is a mix of chocolate and roasted malt. The beer smells about like I expect an American Stout to smell. The flavor is heavy on the chocolate malt with some roasted malt. There are also some medicinal notes in the flavor, somewhat resembling menthol or spearmint. Medium to thick mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

Presentation: 12oz. amber bottle with a fierce-looking (duh) black hawk on the label. No freshness dating.

Appearance: True-to-form darkness. An inky black color from which no light escapes. Brown sugar-colored head makes but a brief appearance before mysteriously disappearing to the extreme edges of the glass. No lacing.

Taste: Thin. Dark bitter chocolate flavors, mixed with roasted "grainy" flavors. A subtle (not to an unpleasant level) of "smokiness" also noted. A dash of hoppy snap at the end makes for a surprising finish.

Mouthfeel: Still a little thin and watery. Not as smooth and chewy as I'd thought. Snappy dry aftertaste was a turn-off as well.

Drinkability: Certainly more "refreshing" than other stouts. Nothing too heavy on the palate at the end and not horribly complex. Perhaps a good "1st stout"-type beer to introduce someone to the category?

poured into a nonic glass from a 12oz brown long neck bottle with a crimped on cap.

Dark chestnut brown reddish hue clear letting light pass through. 2" light tan head thick,pillowy head with good retention with rings of lace around the top of the glass with spotty lacing down the rest of the glass.

Good clean malty nose,moderate, nothing out of the ordinary. Roasty,lot of coffee notes and burnt aromas with some subtle butteryness. nice aroma.

Roasty,coffee-like,burnt tastes about what you would expect in a stout. Some grassy/straw tastes. Clean mid-tastes finishes with a sharp.clean,crisp bitterness leaves a dry, black coffee aftertaste with some smokeness. Really nice tasting stout.

A light,watery mouthfeel,airy,creamy a nitro draft feel to it. Pleasing,moderate taste,if I had a session stout this one would be at the top of the list. Nothing extreme just a good enjoyable stout. One that everybody would enjoy, one to keep on hand. Give it a try!

Pours a deep ruby that becomes evident when held to light. Thinner in color than some porters. Nice tan head with no lacing.

I really like the smell. The grains just pop out and remind me of a good bakery. Slight hints of dark fruit in the backgorund. The taste is good, but not very stout like to me. It's quite fruity, almost in a barleywine way, but definitely not a barleywine. Yet it has some dry stout finish to it. It's certainly not a bad beer, just a confused one IMHO. Maybe I'm confused, who knows?

If I designed a barleywine/stout/porter hybrid, this would be it. This is a good beer to give to those that are afraid of dark beers. A stepping stone on the way to drinking a true stout.

Pours dark brown with tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, reminiscent of chocolate, some fruit aromas , and faint alcohol aroma. Some fruit flavors underneath the anticipated roasted malts. A faint tartness in the background. No significant hop presence I can detect. Nothing special but this isn't bad.

Oily and black, beige head, minimal presence though. Big chocolate aroma. Same for the taste. Holds on thinner than it appears. Great roasted almost peat to smoke feel to it. A little coffee, stays away from being sweet. This is a great beer to make 1/2 the black and tan combination with (as they have done).

Its a good price, pretty accessible without dumbing the style down. This is kind of like your #2 or 3 starter in baseball. He's gonna eat some innings and be very reliable at a decent price tag.

A very dark roasted malt flavor, nice head, but far more subtle and real then the almost burnt taste of something like Guinness Extra (hardly needing its fortified capacity now that it comes from Canada)...as far as Black Hawk, I was a little disappointed by its mouthfeel (could have been creamier) but the aromas and head were great...great American rendition of a stout...